Students enjoy summer camp filled with robots and science

John Berry/The Post-StandardRaymond Dromms, the director of manufacturing engineering at Welch Allyn, shows Matthew Casarsa, 15, of Cicero, (left) Sean King, 15, of Marcellus and other local students the robotics that go into making blood pressure cuffs at the factory in Skaneateles Falls. The tour was part of STEM Camp (science, technology, engineering, math).

By Jon Gagnon
Contributing writer

Twenty middle school and high school students this week took part in a new summer science camp, visiting local companies that use robots and then building their own robots.

Onondaga Community College created the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) camp, which started Monday and ended Friday, to try to increase young people’s interest in robotics and science.

The U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee reported in April that the demand for skilled workers in STEM fields is rising, but the number of students pursuing STEM field degrees is dropping.

“(The goal is) to inspire, the young teens in science, technology, engineering, and math so they will continue with high school, and go to those higher levels of education,” said Barbara Dennehy, OCC’s coordinator of lifelong learning. Students also got to see what kind of jobs are available locally, she said.

“(Also) to experience what kind of jobs are out here in Central New York.”

The STEM Camp costs $300 per kid, and was introduced when parents expressed concern that their children were getting too old for College for Kids, another summer program at OCC for children 8 to 14 years old that gives them a feel for what college is like.

At the STEM camp, students visited companies each morning that have robotics and engineering technology. The visits included Lockheed Martin, Byrne Dairy, Time Warner Cable, The Post-Standard, Schneider Packaging, the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Department and St. Joseph’s Hospital.

“What they’re learning in the classroom, and then they see it in real life, that’s been the great part of this camp,” Dennehy said.

In the afternoons, the kids spent their time in a classroom, where they designed, built, programmed, tested and ran robots.

Sean King, 15, of Marcellus said he loves building the robots.

“I love science and I love building, it’s what one of my favorite things to do,” he said.

Anthony Fratto, 13, of North Syracuse, said he hopes to become a computer programmer. King and Fratto agreed that the trip to Lockheed Martin was one of their favorite parts of the week.

“Lockheed Martin was really cool,” King said. “Seeing all the different radio things and all the Army stuff they’re building is really cool.”

On Friday, the children took a tour of Welch Allyn, a Skaneateles Falls maker of medical equipment that was founded in 1915.

During the tour Friday, the kids saw the assembly lines of a blood pressure meter, and the ophthalmoscope and otoscope, instruments doctors use to check eyes and ears.

“The kids learned to understand some of the possibilities that are out there,” said Raymond Dromms, the company’s director of manufacturing engineering.